On August 11th, 2008 the Hubble Telescope hit the 100,000 orbit mark! Since its launch in April of 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope has been traveling at 5 miles per second with its on-board odometer racking up around 2.72 BILLION miles! That's about 5,700 trips to the moon and back! In October of this year the STS-125 crew will be be working on the 5th and final servicing mission to Hubble. There are currently 5 spacewalks scheduled for Atlantis where astronauts will install new equipment and repair broken instruments. Once this mission is complete, NASA's favorite telescope will need to live out the remainder of its days alone in space, with no chance of repair. This is the story of the Hubble Space Telescope, or HST.

Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion of the atmosphere, far far above rain clouds and light pollution, Hubble has an unobstructed view of the universe. Scientists have used Hubble to observe the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system.

Countdown to the Last Mission to Hubble

STS-125 is just over a month away with the final servicing mission to the Hubble Telescope. To get everyone excited and prepped we have Hubble Week here on SpaceVidcast.com. In this video: The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) will study a diverse range of objects and phenomena, from early and distant galaxy formation to nearby planetary nebulae, and finally our own backyard -- the planets and other bodies of our Solar System.

This video was created by NASA and additional information can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/hubble.

Hubble Operations Control Room

STS-125 is just over a month away with the final servicing mission to the Hubble Telescope. To get everyone excited and prepped we have Hubble Week here on SpaceVidcast.com. In this video: During servicing missions the Space Telescope Operations Control Room at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center becomes a very busy place.

This video was created by NASA and additional information can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/hubble.